Biofortification of plant-based food: Enhancing folate levels by metabolic engineering

摘要

Humans require a minimum daily intake of essential mi-cronutrients, vitamins, and minerals to maintain optimal health. Micronutrient malnutrition, the dietary insufficiency of one or more mi-cronutrients, has far-reaching negative health consequences at all stages of life and was a pervasive health issue for all countries at the turn of the 20th century. Micronutrient malnutrition has been significantly alleviated for those populations in developed countries as a result of programs established in the mid-20th century that fortified processed foods with the necessary micro-nutrients. Similar fortification efforts have had only modest success in developing countries because an industrial level of agriculture, food-processing, and distribution that is limited or lacking in many of the targeted countries is required. Micronutrient malnutrition thus has remained a widespread and persistent global health problem in developing countries where it continues to exact an enormous toll on individuals, populations, and society.